erview with the district prosecutor's office. In any event, it does not deem it necessary to do so for the following reason. Mr I. and Salman Abdulazizov, as well as Mr E., Mr V., Mr D.M. and his brother, were taken away on the same night from the same village under nearly identical circumstances by armed men travelling in the same types of vehicles. The Court thus assumes that all the six men were abducted by the same group of armed men.
82. The Court is not persuaded by the Government's argument that the persons who arrived in Goyty village could have been insurgents since it is unclear how a motorcade of several vehicles carrying heavily armed members of illegal armed groups could have driven past military checkpoints and remained unnoticed.
83. The Court thus finds that the fact that a large group of armed men in uniforms was able to move freely about the village controlled by the federal forces late at night past curfew, to abduct six men and then to pass two federal checkpoints strongly supports the applicant's allegation that these were State servicemen.
84. The Court reiterates that where the applicant makes out a prima facie case and the Court is prevented from reaching factual conclusions owing to the lack of documents withheld by the Government, it is for the latter to argue conclusively why the documents in question cannot serve to corroborate the allegations made by the applicant, or to provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation of how the events in question occurred. The burden of proof is thus shifted to the Government, and if they fail in their arguments, issues will arise under Article 2 and/or Article 3 (see {Togcu} v. Turkey, No. 27601/95, § 95, 31 May 2005, and Akkum and Others v. Turkey, No. 21894/93, § 211, ECHR 2005-II).
85. Taking into account the above elements, the Court is satisfied that the applicant has made a prima facie case that Salman Abdulazizov was arrested by State servicemen. The Government's statement that the investigation did not find any evidence to support the involvement of the special forces in the abduction is insufficient to discharge them from the above-mentioned burden of proof. Drawing inferences from the Government's failure to submit the documents which were in their exclusive possession or to provide another plausible explanation for the events in question, the Court considers that Salman Abdulazizov was abducted on 12 February 2001 at his house in Goyty by State servicemen during an unacknowledged security operation.
86. The Court has to decide further whether Salman Abdulazizov is to be considered dead. It notes in this regard that there has been no reliable news of the missing man since 12 February 2001. His name has not been found in any official records of detention facilities. Lastly, the Government did not submit any explanation as to what happened to him after his abduction.
87. Having regard to the previous cases concerning disappearances of people in the Chechen Republic which have come before the Court (see, for example, Luluyev and Others v. Russia, No. 69480/01, ECHR 2006-...), the Court considers that, in the context of the conflict in the Chechen Republic, when a person is detained by unidentified servicemen without any subsequent acknowledgement of the detention, this can be regarded as life-threatening. The absence of Salman Abdulazizov or any news of him for eight years corroborates this assumption.
88. Accordingly, the Court finds it established that on 12 February 2001 Salman Abdulazizov was abducted by State servicemen and that he must be presumed dead following his unacknowledged detention.
ii. The State's compliance with Article 2
89. The Court reiterates that Article 2, which safeguards the right to life and sets out the circumstances when deprivation of life may be justified, ranks as one of the most fundamental provisions in
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